Competition drives cost of city car parks to a welcome low

Nicole Hasham

Leaving the car at home ... Josh Milston heads to the office. Photo: Janie Barrett

THEY were buildings of convenience, never a destination: austere concrete monoliths that fed off our addiction to the car.

But multi-deck car parks are changing with the times. The Domain car park, one of Sydney's oldest, has undergone an $8 million revamp to woo motorists as driving a car into the city centre has become entirely unfashionable.

Gone are the dingy corners, dead end layout and reliance on onerous staircases.

World leader ... Sydney is one of the most expensive cities to park. Photo: Simon Schluter

Welcome neon paint, shiny new lifts and an upgraded travelator, touted as the longest in the southern hemisphere at 207 metres. A coffee cart, dry cleaning service and electric car chargers are on their way.

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"It used to be dark, it was unpainted and rundown and hadn't been touched for 50 years," said Peter Stewart, managing director of InterPark, which runs the car park. "Now it's upgraded. It's a really nice car park."

State government parking levies, competition from street parking and changing car use have taken their toll on the car park industry, Mr Stewart said.

Prices have plummeted in response. At the Domain, evening and weekend parking has been slashed to $10 and ''early bird'' weekday parking costs $17.

Monthly rates for car parks in Sydney's central business district fell by 20 per cent in the three years to 2011, according to a report by Colliers International. However, daily rates rose slightly and Sydney remains one of the world's most expensive cities in which to park.

Mr Stewart denied the days of multi-storey car parks were numbered.

"It's crucial for a vibrant international city like Sydney to have affordable parking available," he said. "We always have to balance up the needs of the environment with the needs of individuals. Modern cars are far less polluting than they were years ago."

City of Sydney is not convinced, and is trying to improve transport options to reduce congestion, including cycleways, car sharing and improved pedestrian routes.

The 2011 census showed the number of cars driven to work in the city dropped by 9 per cent in five years, even though there were 9 per cent more workers.

Workplace transport plans are also threatening car park supremacy.

The Kent Street design and engineering firm ARUP provides just two permanent parking spaces for staff. In their place it offers 80 bike spaces, shared with the building's other tenants, and loan schemes to help staff buy bikes and annual public transport tickets.

Employee Joshua Milston, 27, of Darlinghurst, rides to work each day.

"[Cycling] is quicker than a car, quicker than a bus or a train and it gives me exercise in the morning as well," he said.

"Employees accept the fact that working in a CBD environment, on-site car parking is not an entitlement."